Farewell 2011

Our year in a nutshell...

We moved into our new house on New Year's Day.

Good thing we had plenty of help 
unpacking!  

Our family grew, welcoming our niece, 
Addisyn Hogue, in January.

We continued to learn being parents is the best job in the world!

Our first NM family snow days.

Our beautiful sanctuary

The coldest temperatures we've ever experienced!

Hye and Pops came to visit.

A visit from Dear Ray and Sarah (who will 
welcome Baby Abby any day now!) 

Jack learned to feed himself and as you 
can see it was a proud moment.

Our family grew welcoming our dog Caty 
into our home. 

Our first trip to White Sands, NM.

Our family grew again, welcoming our 
nephew, Daniel Mosley, in March. 

Ryan had a very special installation service 
at First Christian Church.

More family time at White Sands

More family time at White Sands 

Easter

Easter

My mom (Granna) came to visit.

Mother's Day and I am so happy to be his mom! 

Father's day

Cousin time with the Grissom family. 

Our family grew again! We welcomed 
Avery Grissom in May.

Family pictures

Cherry picking

 

Thanks to a church conference and babysitting grandparents, 
we escaped to the beach for a couple  days.

The Grissoms came to visit.

Jack and his "bro" Luca

Beautiful hikes

Hye and Pops came to visit.

Quality time with quality neighbors

Jack helping Daddy at work.

Jack is going to be a big brother!

Grandpa and Nanna came to visit.

Aunt Janet and Uncle Tim rode in for a visit.

Jack's dedication at our church. 
What a meaningful blessing!

Our first true experience of Fall 
and changing leaves.

Our sweet boy turned 2 years old!

Kera came to visit.

The Arnold family came to celebrate 
Christmas in the mountains.

After a year of great anticipation, the Browns made it 
to Ruidoso and helped us celebrate the new year.

Watch this video for our newest life-changing family news : )

May the year 2012 be full of blessings of hope, blessings of challenge, 
blessings of inspiration, and blessings in disguise! 
Grace, The Arnold Family

"he simply wants to spend time with his father"

Notes from the Pastor...

In this final week of Advent I am reminded of the Prophet Micah.  In his first pronouncement we hear these frightening words:
For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.  And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. [...]  
"Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting a vineyard..."

We may be tempted to read these words and see a pronouncement of last day's judgment and doom.  However, many scholars, of whom I am convinced, believe that Micah is not talking about destruction, rather, reclamation.  This is the pronouncement of the return to the Garden of Eden: "a place for planting a vineyard".  But most impressive is the fact that God will "come out of his place [in heaven], and will come down and tread upon [...] the earth."  Remember Genesis 3:8 - "And they heard the sound of the Lord God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day."

Undoubtedly, the presence of God on earth is a fearfully, wonderful thing!  And it is at Christmas that we celebrate the fulfillment of Micah's pronouncement, the reclamation of Eden, because: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

When I get home from work, Jack greets me with absolute exuberance.  At times, it is because "Mommy" has promised that something good is going to happen when "Daddy gets home."  At other times, it is simply because I am home.  Yet in all times, his joyful face is the result of presence.  He could care less how I spent my day, it does not matter if I am wearing a suit or jeans, he simply wants to spend time with his father.

This weekend we celebrate the birth of Emmanuel - "God with us".  May God's presence greet you in your Christmas celebrations and may you greet the Word-made-flesh with exuberance.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Pastor Ryan

Wait and Believe

Notes from the Pastor...

One of the Lectionary passages for last Sunday contains these hope-filled words:
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…
Isaiah 61:1-2a

Early in the narrative of Luke, Jesus purposely opens the scroll of Isaiah and reads these words when he visits the Nazareth synagogue.  He concludes by rolling up the scroll, giving it back to the attendant, sitting down, and saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing!”

Advent is the “time just before the adventure begins, when everybody is leaning forward to hear what will happen even though they already know what will happen and what will not happen, when they listen hard for meaning, their meaning, and begin to hear, only faintly at first, the beating of unseen wings.".  -Frederick Buechner

We journey through a harsh, sharp-edged landscape where life seems inhospitable.  Yet even in the desert the winds whispers of the hope, peace, love, and  joy  that accompany the advent of Christ.  It is as if snow covers the mesa, and the sharp-edges turn to a dual finish; the harsh journey becomes a new adventure.  We know what is coming: goodness, comfort, liberty, release, and the Lord’s favor living,  walking,  and breathing in our midst.  Oh that we would only wait!  Wait and believe!

Oswald Chambers says, "Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief."  May it be so!  May it be so this Advent!

Grace,
Pastor Ryan

Half way there!

Our baby has been growing for 20 weeks today! A pregnancy is based on the assumption that the baby will be born at 40 weeks, which means...

TODAY we are HALF-WAY THERE!

This experience has already flown by and I know we will be meeting our new baby before we know it. We are just as baffled as we were the first time that a human of unknown personality, features, (and gender for that matter) will be joining our family SO SOON!

We have been very blessed so far with a healthy (and active) baby and I particularly am grateful for my own health thus far as well. We are thankful to all of you who are sharing with us in our excitement and welcome all "happy, healthy, strong" prayers.

With a little cooperation from our baby, we will post a pink or blue announcement right after Christmas!

Thought-provoking Bliss

As I write this morning, I am in a state of pure bliss, which is part of the reason I wanted to write. I don't like to write for public intent out of anger, disappointment, apathy, or revenge. Reading words written for such reasons bring me down and that's the last thing I want to do for someone else. Happy words, on the other hand, are share-able and hopefully uplifting, even to me later when I may feel less blissful. So this morning I want to remember how I feel. Let me explain why I am on Cloud 9.

About a month ago, Ryan had a wonderfully sweet idea. By his suggestion and after a little planning, this morning I enjoyed a child-free, guilt-free breakfast with other mom friends. We didn't share our food or lean across the table to cut eggs into pieces and none of us left looking like we had had an accident because no one spilled anything on us! In a word, it was lovely. It was a soak-it-all-in kind of experience. I was fully aware of how much I was enjoying the small break, but more so I was (am) so thankful for such a loving husband.

As I drove to and from the restaurant I had time by myself in the car, which doesn't happen often, but the big deal to me in the car was having control of the radio. (My music has been commandeered for some time now by a certain 2-year-old someone, who is adorable and opinionated, and replaced with repetitive jingles that visit me in my dreams.) You would think I would take advantage of my country music while I had the chance but on the way home, I actually turned the radio off and just enjoyed the silence and the snow still on the ground from our last storm.

Somewhere between feeling so blessed and being surrounded by white, my mind turned to hopeful advent thoughts. I hope the usual hopes of peace and joy and those hopes are wonderful. But my thoughts were also on my motivation for feeling so blessed this morning. Why this morning, why not every morning? Why not at least Sunday morning? Sunday mornings for me as a mom, Sunday school teacher, pastor's wife mean quite a bit of planning and preparation by myself. Sometimes by the time we are on the way home from church, I am so worn out that I don't even realize that I never fully showed up.

Have you ever had guests in your home that don't want to eat? If you invite someone to your home for a meal, you are excited to share with them what you have prepared in the best of hospitable intentions. Wouldn't you be disappointed if their response was any form of "No thanks"? They may even have a really good reason for not wanting to eat, but there is still disappointment in your heart because of an unshared blessing and a seemingly wasted preparation and invitation.

Now flip that.

Every Sunday morning I go to church "just to be there" OR spend my time of meditation going over to-do lists in my mind OR sit among fellow believers but not do not engage my brain OR complain about a song because I don't like the melody and ignore the powerful lyrics OR walk away from a need because someone else will do it OR check out all together from Monday-Saturday...
I feel like the guest who showed up by God's invitation to receive nourishment and, by whatever popular justification, refuse yet another blessing. I can only imagine how that makes God feel.

My hope for all this advent season is purposeful motivation to engage in each and every tiny, huge, casual, unexpected, planned blessing that crosses our paths. To use a Christmas cliche, that may mean giving blessing through planning and invitation and receiving when someone else has done the same. But most importantly for each of our souls, may we RECOGNIZE God's invitation, participate in God's calling, and may our response be gratitude and to go and do likewise for even the most difficult person in the family, on the block, in the office, or from our past. (If you just pictured someone, I hope you feel challenged.)

It's amazing what a little fellowship followed by alone time can do for the soul! I hope you receive some of that as well this holiday season.

Sincerely warm blessing to you and yours this Christmas with high hopes!

Mystically Significant

Notes from the Pastor...

On Sunday we prayed for peace.  This is a plea that we continually lift up, but annually, on the second Sunday of Advent, we take a moment to intentionally and self consciously invoke peace and lift up our
neighbors, our family, and our world in the name of the coming Prince of Peace.  On Peace Sunday, we become acutely aware of the great need for peace  – that tragic courage of war would no longer be necessary; that pain and suffering would cease; that hate and evil would become extinct.

Yesterday, in attempts to entertain two, two-year-olds, who needed to spend some time outside, one of my neighbors and I drove into the snow covered mountains.  On a whim, and looking for peace, we made it half way up Monjeau Road and stopped.  The landscape reminded me of scene in Ken Burns’ documentary,  National Parks.  In a short interview with a rugged park ranger from Yellowstone, viewers are told about a
unique morning when he happened upon a heard of Bison grazing in a high valley covered in snow.  As these mammoth creatures breathed he could see icicles form and fall, but the landscape itself was as silent as the
grave.  The park ranger said, “It was as if I happened upon the moment of creation.”

It is mystically significant that the days following Peace Sunday, you and I benefit from an awaking scene of snow covered wilderness.  We need not look hard or listen long, to be reminded of the moment of creation – an instant of peace.  May we strive to notice and live in that peace, and may we anticipate the birth of “God with us” and the revival of creation’s peace.

Grace,
Pastor Ryan

The spirit that whispers

Notes from the Pastor...

When I was a child there was a natural anticipation that promptly took hold as my father and I embarked on our annual ascent into the dark attic to retrieve the Christmas decorations.  Before the tree was illuminated and before the stockings were set in place, my entire being pulsated;  like the pre-tremors of an earthquake I
could hardly stand the patience necessary in the delayed coming of beautifully wrapped presents.

Biblically speaking, “to wait” is to manifest the kind of trust that is willing to commit oneself to God over the long haul.  It is to continue to believe and expect when all others have given up.  It is to believe that something better is going to happen in God’s time than for it to happen on our initiative and in our time.

In Psalms we hear our call to waiting:

Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

[and]

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.

It is my desire that we adults regain our childish anticipation for Christmas day.  After all, this is the adventure of Advent – it is a season of waiting on the coming of a beautifully unwrapped presence. It is our annual ascent from dark existence into the light of Christ!  It is the pulsating spirit that whispers within our being: “hope”, “peace”, “joy”, and “love”.

Grace,
Pastor Ryan

"Uh Oh!" gratitude

Notes from the Pastor...

The greatest saint in the world is not he who prays most or fasts most; it is not he who gives most alms, or is most eminent for temperance, chastity or justice.  It is he who is most thankful to God, and who has a heart always ready to praise God.  This is the perfection of all virtues.  Joy in God and thankfulness to God is the highest perfection of a divine and holy life.
- 17th century churchman, William Law

On Monday night, Jack said his first prayer all by himself.  Since he was just a baby, Kristyn and I have always said his night prayers, hoping to form within him a spiritual habit, and before he could talk we would provide our interpretation of his nightly thanksgiving; praying things like: “Dear Jesus, thank you for Mommy, Daddy, and my teddy bear.”  But last night, upon our prompting, Jack independently said,

“Dear Jesus, thank you, uh oh.”  

In a brief moment of parental wisdom, I took it as a learning opportunity, and replied, “Yes son, sometimes that’s how prayers go.”

At this time of year, when we adults are prompted to gratitude we often have so many “uh oh’s” that we fear uttering any prayer what so ever.  However, if my inspired son is correct, we need not delay in distress; we can hold both confession and gratitude in the same thought.  As Shakespeare asserts:

Poor soul!  God’s goodness hath been great to thee:
Let never day nor night unhallow’d pass,
But still  remember what the Lord hath done.
- Henry IV, Part II

and so…

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the Earth.
… For the Lord is good;
       his steadfast love endures forever,
       and his faithfulness to all generations.
- Psalm 100

Grace,
Pastor Ryan

Happy Anniversary to Us, FCC!

Notes from the pastor...

On Tuesday, November 15, 2011,  you and I celebrated a milestone:
we have been wedded as pastor and congregation for one year – Break out the frozen cake!

The following are my first year observations and corresponding 2012 goals (as a preacher all things must come in threes):
1. First Christian Church holds a  distinct place in the Ruidoso communities.  Our congregation is neither conservative nor liberal; we are disciples who affirm Christ in the conservative, the liberal, and everyone in-between.  Our membership is inclusive and open to anyone who confesses Jesus the Christ; yet we declare the Bible as normative, respect Church tradition, and are informed by the sciences.  We say, “You can be a person of your time and place and be a Disciple of Christ.”  I believe our distinct place is appealing to many in our community, most of our neighbors are tired of divisions, and many are seeking a community that affirms their spirit while partnering with the growth of the Spirit in their life.
My goal for 2012:  May we embrace, celebrate, and exercise our congregation as an open, inclusive, and Christ-centered community of faith.

2.  First Christian Church is a growing congregation.  I perceive three factors to our growth: a) the
continual invitation of friends and neighbors, b) a warm welcoming atmosphere, and c) focused worship
and teaching events.  The pastor can only truly affect the third factor; therefore, the growth we are experiencing is truly the work of God and your receptivity to the Spirit’s initiative.  I do not accept that our
growth is a result of my first year in this community; rather, I believe that you and I will continue to be
stewards of the Spirit – utilizing each one’s gifts to better proclaim our Christ in word and deed in the
Ruidoso communities.
My goal for 2012: May we actively participate in God’s movement within our community – being
Christ to our neighbors.

3. First Christian Church  lay leadership is mostly derived from the core surviving group of longtime members.  This is both good and bad; it exposes a deep commitment and love, and yet this small number is excessively expected to fulfill the current ministry model.  Nevertheless, over the past two years, our membership has grown to include devoted attendees with unspoken ideas of ministry.  I believe that we are entering a time calling for expanded lay leadership.  I fully expect that congregational initiative will drive First Christian Church into new models and ideas of ministry that work with our core strengths and facilitates change within our weaknesses.
My goal for 2012: May we empower our expanding leadership so they may lead us in reclaimed, recycled, and renewed avenues of ministry.

This article is both informative and invitational.  We must build First Christian Church in 2012 together.

Grace,
Pastor Ryan

Pulpit Swap - an exercise in grace

Notes from the Pastor...

On September 3, 1827,  Alexander Campbell, a father of the Christian Church and Church of Christ movement, confessed a “deep and solemn conviction that the [Assembly] is the house of God  – the temple of the Holy Spirit  – and that [Christians] are, especially and emphatically, in the presence of the Lord while we are engaged in his worship.”

While First Christian Church and Gateway Church of Christ may have two different assemblies, we are brought together in the same Holy Spirit  – the motivator who prepared and enabled prophetic words delivered by Pastor John Duncan last Sunday.  I too sensed the Holy Spirit at work within my preparation and delivery to our brothers and sisters at Gateway Church of Christ.

The fact is our pulpit swap was an exercise in grace.  The “one Church” in Ruidoso may be divided by congregational style or worship and emphasized points of biblical interpretation; however, we must not be divided by an egocentrism that finds our tribe as “right” and another as “wrong.” A more open view of our brothers and sisters of different traditions leads to truer Assembly of worship and a clearer understanding of the presence of the Lord.

Church of Christ theologian, John Mark Hicks suggests that unity among believers follows from three foundational truths:
1.  Unity is a divine initiative, created by and located in the relationship of God to creation.
2.  Unity is enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
3.   Unity is the experience of heaven on earth.

Therefore, when the congregations and Christian individuals of Ruidoso practice unity, we become means of grace to one another and agents of grace to our community.  After all, First Christian Church Ruidoso affirms: “We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.” (Disciples of Christ Statement of Identity)

Grace,
Pastor Ryan

Guess What?!

We have had a full weekend of "2". Jack just celebrated his 2nd birthday and we simultaneously were celebrating the beginning of our 2nd trimester!

Approximately, May 3rd we will become a family of 4! We do not know yet whether Jack will have a sister or a brother, but we can't wait to find out!